Share this

Chris Sells (guest)
AL:

Now let me get this correct. Arizona's new law "may lead to racial profiling by cops," but Obama can send the National Guard to the border to stop those crossing the border. Are the National Guard going to "ask for papers?"

E. Archimboldi (guest)
TX:

Catharsis or the purgation of unpleasant emotions is a human need, and scapegoating is a prominent example: We project what we don't want and often won't acknowledge in ourselves onto a convenient victim. Potentially lethal and destructive, more so it seems in times of rapid change and transformation, the need for catharsis should as much as possible be isolated from not only politics but from direct involvement in daily life, real life, as much as possible, and confined to the artificial, more controllable realm of entertainment. How much better if Mussolini and Hitler had been only beer-hall and radio comedians kept out of politics, and if their eager followers had been able to release their built-up bile through laughter only.

Steven Best (guest)
OH:

Mr. Liu, your comment is a bit ridiculous when you look at Obama's leadership. Sestak, oil spill, unsustainable spending, lack of transparency with the people, the list goes on. There is a reason why Obama has dropped to the lowest poll number yet today. Limbaugh is an entertainer, a successful one at that. Obama is not.

L. Cleveland Major (guest)
GA:

I am a concerned citizen of the U.S., & I am appalled at the lack of serious response to this situation by those who have the power to do so! Sitting back discussing what should be done is not getting it done! Someone needs to take positive charge & force those responsible to get it fixed as quickly as possible! My interest is purely for the environment & economic well being of the region affected. It not only affects that region, the rest of the world is affected as well! It boils down to which is the most important! Money or life? I choose life!

steve carroll (guest)
IL:

Bush could have avoided the blame with the people stuck in Katrina if he had just mailed out the Social Security and welfare checks a little earlier. Many did not get out because the postman had not delivered their check yet. Obama "the buck stops somewhere else" will blame others for his responsibility as usual.

Karen Norton (guest)
CA:

For all of their talk of "civility" the liberals never miss a chance at ad hominum attacks. They deliberately disdain, demean, discredit and demonize anyone who has an opinion different from theirs. The liberals are intolerant and rude. They have exposed themselves for the bullies they really are. I would be willing to wager that very few have ever listened to Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin themselves. They depend on the demagogues at Daily Kos or Huffington Post who mislead, misinterpret and malign their political "enemies."

Andrea E (guest)
NY:

Mike Hawkins (guest)
TN:

The Boston University professor needs to learn how to lose. To say Rush is racist is to open his debate with a whitewash of vitriol. Liberal academics are seeing their influence decay in the face of global access to information and differing political views. It's fun to watch. As November approaches, liberals like the professor flail at their keyboards and rant to their captured student audiences of a conservative fungus. It's like the mouse flipping the middle finger to the hawk as it descends to make the kill. Take heart, prof. You're pain will subside soon. Or will it?

doug zaenglein (guest)
NY:

Well, after reading a handful of these posts I have come to a few conclusions. I'm not very educated in economics or politics, but I see what I see. And it's a big political mess. The first thing that comes to mind whenever I see or hear about this is how is it, as many of you have mentioned, that neither the government or BP seem to have what it takes to fix this problem? Which leads me to believe both of them don't care at all about the environment. Money lost at this point is really money gained for the oil company. They might lose oil, but gas prices go up. Day after day goes by with almost nothing being done, which leads to the ability for the media to drag this out. An unfavorable opinion of the president means nothing either, look at Bush's ratings his last few years in office. It's a joke, somebody is clearly making money off of this disaster. Otherwise something would have been done already. I don't have a very definite opinion on this, but if I had to pick a side I believe the lack of action taken is carefully calculated to maximize any national exposure, good or bad, and however it is being done, to make money on this situation.

Derick Waselewsky M.D. (guest)
GA:

You have Obama on one side, BP on another, and the American people in the other corner. Once again the American people are losing. Our president is hiding behind his White House officials; making him speeches, fixing his image, etc. Now ultimately BP is responsible for what happened here. They caused this spill and why you ask because it was under their control. Now the White House or actually President Obama needs to respond with action that is immediate and makes BP fully responsible. Why should the American people have to pay for more corprate screw-ups? Now what are we going to bail out BP next. Maybe every American needs to send in a requisition for a bailout and see if we can get in on it to.

Andrea E (guest)
NY:

The only people who claim Limbaugh is the "voice" of conservatives/Republicans are people who hate conservatives/Republicans. It's as though a link to Limbaugh is a pejorative in their eyes. That may be but only to them.

Doyle Richardson (guest)
IA:

If someone here in my home state has a small fuel leak (say 5 -10 gal) the DNR ,Hasmat Team ,sheriff's dept ,etc. all show up in force. But the federal gov't hasn't stepped in yet with this oil spill? WHY? No large fines yet? WHY? Yet another case of too big to have to follow the rules. This time not only will the economy be effected but the entire Gulf area . Boycott BP if you can!!!!! Money is the only thing that matters to these people ....

mark hannawa (guest)
NC:

I just watched video illustrations of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. They are already pushing their skepticism on the possibility of success that the Top Kill method will work. BP is buying time to implement its 4th strategy which is to use the LMPR cap method. They would modify the damaged pipe to accept a new coupler that would capture nearly all the oil without hydro contamination. Looking at the situation, it would have been very easy for the Army Corps of Engineers to shut this thing down by drilling 2 cross points from center of the damaged well. Drilling at a 45 degree angle down 500 feet, while the cross points at the top would be 300 feet from center of the well, the drill angle would take those points much closer to center at the appropriate depth. You insert large explosive ordinance at the end of the 2 drill-out sites... BANG! You essentially choke off the well, and seal it off permanently. I don’t see why they’re hesitating, they are already drilling 2 relief well sites. Why aren’t they just blowing the well closed? I’m sorry folks, but this reeks of something sinister, something corrupt or criminal. I don’t believe a word from BP or this administration. “Never waste a good crisis” - do these words sound familiar?

Edwin Isaac Mendez (guest)
FL:

It's so easy to criticize everyone. There is a truly epic catastrophy happening out there in the Gulf Coast, and we're out here blaming everybody for not doing enough, not knowing what to do, or having other priorities. What's your priority? Get out there, volunteer, and help clean the mess. It's our duty to protect our environment! It is not to sit down and wait for someone else to solve the problem for us. Sure, someone caused the problem, but pointing the finger all day long isn't changing what happened, and pointing the finger certainly isn't making the situation any better either. We can handle the blame game once we've protected our coasts and sealed the spill.

John Regan (guest)
CA:

More like Bush's second Katrina. A new Inspector General's report now states that Bush administration officials in the Minerals Management Service, which oversees offshore oil drilling operations, were wined and dined by oil industry officials in exchange for lax oversight. Under President Bush, inspectors were bribed with vacations, meals, drugs and offers of employment. We see the result in the BP oil spill. Once again, the Obama administration is tasked with identifying and cleaning up the Bush/Cheney administration's corruption, incompetence and blatant disregard for the public interest. Conservatives should be hanging their collective heads in shame for having failed to hold the Bush administration accountable, not pointing fingers and trying to score cheap political points in the midst of an environmental catastrophe.

Michael Cornette (guest)
MT:

Thomas Whalen in Boston is a moron. Regardless of what you think of Mr. Limbaugh, his impact on society and the political discourse of this nation is undeniable. It is obvious Mr. Whalen cares not for what Limbaugh says nor for the people who do. The only difference between Limbaugh and most of those on the left is if Rush says something, he stands by his words whereas those on the left will hide behind the cloak of "mis-speaking," or worse yet, take solace in the fact that most in the media will cover for them. Reap it, Whalen.

Tim Wright (guest)
IL:

Of course Limbaugh is the voice of the right wing, along with his minions (Beck, Mannity, Malkin, Coulter, O'Reilly, Weiner/Savage, etc.). People on the right wing seem to need a figurehead to worship and Limbaugh, despite being a draft dodger, drug abuser, viagra smuggler, and multi-divorced failure of a man, is good at whipping up excitement in the easily lead ranks of the tea baggers and Republican Party. While many on the right wing accuse those on the left of idolizing President Obama they might take a moment to check their own idolization and fevered devotion to Limbaugh and possibly more so (of late) the apparent Prophet Glenn Beck who apparently receives direct messages from God. I just caution you from drinking the Kool-Aid at the next Beck-bagging rally.

Bernard Nadel (guest)
VA:

The recent oil disaster in the Gulf illustrates just one problem in the use of oil. Fortunately, we have a much better alternative, the perfect fuel, hydrogen... Hydrogen, has more latent energy and is safer than gasoline which burns and burns after an explosion. With hydrogen there is water. The new electric cars are a cruel joke. Lithium batteries will propel a vehicle a few paltry miles and then require several hours for a recharge. Replace those silly lithium, ion batteries with hydrogen fuel cells and go hundreds of miles between charges and recharge in just a few minutes. And what will emerge from the tailpipe will be water vapor. At 93, I may not witness it but I can envision the whole world running on hydrogen - cars, busses, trucks, ships, planes, trains, farm and industrial machines, dynamos, refrigeration and heating and cooling our homes. All with ZERO emissions. Not one dime will finance terrorism and we can forget about global warming.. Rick Farmer at the D.O.E. is privy to a patented device that makes hydrogen from endless sea waves with no other emissions save a kiss of oxygen for the atmosphere. GET this to Obama. Type: Bernard Nadel in Google for more information. Bernard Nadel 804 438 6656

Brad Thornton (guest)
AL:

I am an owner of a couple of convenient stores in lower Alabama, one being only 20 minutes from the beach and heavily dependent upon vacation traffic. I am not frustrated with the event that has occured, everyone in this world has made mistakes and this is another to add to a long line of them. However, the two things that concern me most are:
1. First and foremost, why was there no plan in place to deal with this disaster? As students in school, we are all subjected to tornado and fire drills almost daily it seems, even if there is no direct threat or history of threat. Why are big oil companies any different? Obviously, everyone knew that this was a possibility and that's why there was a contraption that failed, because we knew this could happen. Why did our government allow them to drill without monitoring their "drills" and plans to deal with this in case it happened. I mean, we are talking about "shooting golf balls and mud into the hole to clog it"? Are you kidding me, shooting golfballs into the hole? Is it just me or did we just take a LARGE step backward as a civilized people?
2. Why is everyone involved more focused on who is going to pay for the cleanup than they are with actually solving the problem?

Chris Sells (guest)
AL:

Mr. Baker, your comparison of an explosives factory on fire is absurd. Stating the use of fire departments in your example, fire departments exist today. You seem to believe there is some "oil spill station" around the corner. However, to my knowledge there are no oil spill station or department in the government that has resources or capabilites of swimming (or submerging) down 5000 ft to plug the well. I still do not completely understand the BP bashing; as if the company intended this disaster to happen. Mistakes were made and a terrible accident has occured and BP is responsible. Bashing BP and pressuring the company to rush to stop the spill may do more harm than good.

Donna Helton (guest)
TX:

With all the technology that exsists today, I cannot believe that a broken pipe on the sea floor cannot be fixed, plugged or stopped in some way! Our scientists can propel a shuttle to almost any planet, control phones and TVs with a piece of metal flying high above the earth, but can't stop a leak from a pipe? Come on! I don't believe it! Put some deep sea divers down there and fix that shit before you ruin the coast of Texas and beyond! Haven't we destroyed the environment enough? AND, to Obama, it is a national disaster! DUH! Do you have to have an official request on paper to call it one? Get off your A*S and get the job done! You are the president, by the way! Act like one! The marine life is at stake here, not to mention jobs. People will be sued, but who will fight for the loss of marine life? Just in case you did not get the memo, loss of marine life equals loss of the ecosystem. No ecosystem, no planet Earth! No coastal drilling! HELLO!

Michael Nadvorniak (guest)
FL:

The BP oil spill could very well be something that derails Obama's presidency. Thus far the Obama administration has looked inept, but what else is new with Jimmy Carter Reloaded. Obama has been horrible with the economy. Where are the jobs and has anyone seen the DOW lately? And on terrorism, he is a failure with Fort Hood, the Arkansas Recruiting Center, and the Underwear Bomber and Times Square Bomber. He is a foreign policy disaster. North Korea and Iran are threatening the world and our allies Israel and South Korea are left out in the cold. The Response to the BP disaster like the hurricane is just the straw that broke the camel's back for America's faith in Obama. It took 5 years to discover that George W. Bush was a failure, while Obama has proven himself to be a failure in just a year and a half. Greg Dworkin is such a "Shill Baby, Shill". He looks like an idiot. Greg Dworkin is the perfect face for the Daily Kos nutjobs.

carmine manfre (guest)
NY:

This is bull shit. Bottom line, this is a tremendous problem. Stop the finger pointing, that gets worked out later. The oil companies need to forget about their bottom line. All of them should work together to come up with a plan. The president should say you, you, and you get over there and get this done. He is the PRESIDENT. What is wrong with everybody standing around? Get into action and get this damn thing contained. No more talk, no more blame. Anyone making a profit on this goes to jail. It's time to jump into action. Where do I report.

Kenneth Stout (guest)
IN:

I would be considered Rush's worst enemy, because I am a moderate. He can't effectively bash me because there are some things I agrees on and some that I don't. He doesn't like anyone of different opinion. I hope that he isn't the voice of the conservatives because the guy is a fanatic. Over this spilled oil crisis, I only want to see leadership, I want to see action being taken place. And perhaps a future change on how we collect oil from the earth. For example, a shut off valve where we can turn it off when a problem happens, like a leak. Maybe then, oil companies of the world can learn from this mistake. I don't care who does it; BP, Obama, or whoever needs to take charge and stop pointing fingers and just accept how things are now, and how we can change them.

Michael Nadvorniak (guest)
FL:

Rush Limbaugh is conservative equivalent to the New York Times, Washington Post, and the big three networks. Limbaugh informs 20 million listeners weekly and his ratings continue to rise. The big three networks combined barely break the 20 million mark. CBS alone has around 6 million viewers. Rush Limbaugh paved the way for Hannity, Beck, Savage, Levin, and Ingraham. Limbaugh runs a spot that says "They used to get away with it ... But not anymore, Rush Limbaugh!" Well the liberal media does not get away with it, thanks to Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and the rest of talk radio. Limbaugh broke the monopoly on thought. Conservatism was confined to the Weekly Standard and National Review before Rush Limbaugh burst on the scene 20 years ago. American has not been the same and Limbaugh's influence should not be underestimated. The commentator that said Limbaugh is the equivalent of Donahue in the 1980s is full of crap. Donahue is a failure and a forgotten man. Limbaugh should be pleased because Obama is failing and America will survive his one-term. Limbaugh, Beck, and Palin are constantly targeted by the left because they are effective and the Democrats are poised to lose the House and come close to losing the senate in 2010.

mark hannawa (guest)
NC:

What Obama is doing is bordering treason with this oil spill, here’s why. American tech is the most advanced in the world and our military has the most advanced weaponry in the world. They have implosion devices, bunk busters, smart bombs, tack nukes, laser guided bombs, and you mean to tell me that they can’t permanently seal off this well? This is were all that special interest money paid off for BP. The first three efforts were not to seal off the well, they were efforts to cap-and-extract methods. If they truly were concerned with the environment, they would have had the well sealed in the first week ... I promise you they could! BP did not anticipate this sort of disaster, they thought through conventional wisdom that they could cap the well and extract to save revenues that are all but lost now. This well has quickly turned into an ecological disaster that neither BP or the Obama criminal group Inc. had ever anticipated. BP convinced this administration that they could get it under control and quick, in turn, the Obama criminal group Inc. gave them a long leash. the Obama criminal group Inc. is not interested in the environment, they are simply interested in the money and power generated by the by-product of environmental issues.

Armin Feger (guest)
PA:

Unlike the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the BP oil spill is the responsibility of the feds (FEMA) first, and not the local authority. And, unlike Katrina again, the feds were not allowed to go in to help right away because of the Stafford Act. The feds had full responsibility from the get-go. Had the Obama administration followed the 1994 "In-Situ-Burn" plan, 95 percent of all the oil would have been burned off, according to former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Ron Gouquet. They (Obama) didn't! G.W. Bush waited four days before responding to the Katrina disaster and was crucified by the Democrats, the Democrat-controlled mainstream media, and the blog commentors everywhere when Obama didn't notice a thing for 11 days. Now, according to the Obama-worshippers, we're all supposed to forget about who is in charge and move on. Hello, mainstream media? When will you START to do your job as our founding fathers intended for a free press to do, instead of just being Obama's and the Democratic Party's cheering section and propaganda arm?

a. moheit (guest)
CA:

Bottom line, the buck stops with this administration. They can continue to blame Bush by comparing the response to Katrina, but really did they not learn something from that? I agree, acting a little more like you care would help, but most of the administration is still stating the same talking point: "keeping our boot on the neck of BP". Ok, that sounded good at first, but now what? We are headed into rough waters folks, the administration is way over their heads along with this president, and it is obvious they are struggling to get a handle. The president's poll numbers are tanking and a lot of us out here are getting really nervous. This administration is obviously good at campaigning but not leading us through this kind of disaster. We are seeing through all the rhetoric. I for one, am tired of the "blame Bush" message to explain everything, ultimately Obama has to man up to the situation and accept responsibility for where we are today, BP, economy, etc. This is on Obama's watch.

Allison Wunderland (guest)
OR:

"The federal government should act decisively!"
The last time I checked, the federal government wasn't in the oil business and doesn't have the technological resources to cap this well. BP doesn't have the technological resources to address this catastrophe, but at least they're in the oil business and are better equipped than Uncle Sam to stem the flow.
We all wish "decisive action" would address the problems in the Gulf -- but the most fervent wishing and decisive intentions are not going to resolve the crisis.

Joe McEachin (guest)
MA:

How many gallons of gas did you use this week? We can try to blame BP or the Obama administration but the fault is ours. WE have fed our unrealistic demand for oil despite four decades of warnings, WE have sent thousands to die to secure our standing in oil rich regions of the world, WE don't fund research to find alternatives, WE don't provide better public transportation, WE drive the half mile instead of walking, WE elect politicians who pander to profit instead of people. Putting the blame elsewhere is easy, economizing our wasteful culture is the hard truth that always gets overlooked. Shame on all of us.

James Baker (guest)
MD:

The more operative question is, what should be done by the government in this situation? Can any of these illustrious heads explain what the government isn't doing? This was a mess caused by private industry that has been allowed to skirt regulations even as those regulations are thrown away. Other than continuing to try and contain the spill and monitor BP's efforts I fail to see what the government can do? The problem is that BP has been unable to stop the leak therefore the efforts that the government and BP would normally undertake have thus far been futile and will be futile until BP is able to stop the flow of oil. Right now the clean-up efforts are akin to shoveling your walk while the blizzard it still happening.

Gerry Adams (guest)
FL:

First, I believe every "drill baby drill" bunch should be bringing solutions to the table. But if we are going to call on the government to fix this mess, the government should be allowed to implement regulation to prevent this problem from every happening again. The free market solution is, BP has failed. It should be removed, by force if needed. Then any company that can implement a solution in one week, gets the opportunity and get to keep the oil. My suggestion is stick a suction tube into the pipe. {like what a dentist uses} and suck the oil out, reducing the amount of oil that is spilled into the ocean. Then the oil leaking out would be reduced in pressure just enough that it can be sealed off. Then repeat the process until the hole is sealed shut. As for the oil in the ocean, one would think by now Big Oil would have donated money to colleges in America to create a skimmer that could suck oil off the surface of the ocean. Its a shame all of these "drill baby drill" people and companies never went to Boy Scouts and learned "Always Be Prepared."

Virgil Wheeler (guest)
AR:

Why not let the "experts" from the Sierra Club or some other enviro-wacko group handle the repair and cleanup of this monumental disaster? Surely there must be a genius or two among them that can figure out this tiny little engineering problem; they have been smart enough to drive drillers out to sea, they must have taken all the consequences into account before pressuring the oil industry offshore in the first place.

Sue Cornish (guest)
MD:

I do not see one solution offered in The Arena. Does the federal government have a department ready to supply and install blow out preventers? Deep water robots with technicians to operate them so very remotely? Of course not. For several of the contributors, the private sector is always favored for their cost efficiency and effectiveness. Until their effectiveness proves, as yet in the case of BP, unrealized. Then it's time for political potshots. James Carafano's contribution is neither informed nor even literate.

jim wojtasiewicz (guest)
VA:

Let's do a thought experiment. Let's imagine a federal government with enough regulatory authority to control offshore drilling every step of the way, and rich enough in human, technological and financial resources to be ready in advance for any unforseen leakage. Sounds like socialism, doesn't it? Now look at the government we have. Systematically impoverished, authority systematically undercut. It is intellectually dishonest to demand from your government what you have denied it the tools to do.

dawn evans (guest)
MD:

From everything I've heard, there's not much that BP can do now, after the fact, to stop the flow of oil and very little it can do to heal the enviromental damage it has caused. That's probably true for most deep sea spills . So it was doubly important that the criteria for issuing permits be followed stringently, with due attention paid to any agency whose mission is to protect the environment. However, the Interior Department didn't properly vet this permit. Therefore, the administration can't escape its responsibility for the spill by pointing fingers at BP. Sure, BP has to do whatever it can to stop the spill, and if its expertise is superior then the administration is right to defer. Also, BP should pay for whatever can be done to make its victims whole. But the damage is already done. I expect BP and other oil companies to minimize risks, cut corners, and have inadequate plans in the event of disaster. On the other hand, I expect the government to thwart BP and use its regulatory powers to prevent disasters before they occur. Regardless of what happens post-spill, the Obama administration failed to follow its own procedures for doing so, and thus shares responsibility with BP for everything happening now.

Theo Kozel (guest)
MN:

It's interesting that those who demand that Obama "show leadership" are incapable of being specific about what it is he or the government should do. Perhaps, as people who will turn any crisis into a political advantage, they might just be part of the problems besetting the contemporary political scene.

Joseph Schuchert (guest)
CA:

The Obama or any other administration cannot be the "be all, end all" solution for problems of this nature. The fact of the matter is that BP and other oil producers have disaster protocols in place in which the USCG and other governmental entities are immediately involved and a cooperative effort is initiated to resolve the spill or lessen the impacts of it. There are several areas where I believe the Obama administration has failed in both deed and rhetoric. First, Obama "appeared" indifferent in the early days. No visits, no flyovers, etc. That, coupled with the "not ready for prime time" on camera demeanor of both Salazar and Napolitano put the administration behind the PR eight ball. Second, the administration has now tried to assume the role of the bully, proclaiming it has its boot on the throat of BP. While I do not expect them to applaud BP, such threats do little to create a spirit of fluid communications and collaborative efforts. There is plenty of time for legal issues to be fought over; now is not the time. Third, Obama and others cannot resist politicizing the issue and in doing so have grabbed the tiger by the tail and, in so doing, may well get bit.

Daniel Shay (guest)
PA:

The hypocrisy of some folks knows no bounds. For all the exhortations to "drill baby, drill," for all the complaints about "government takeovers," for all the criticisms of inept federal interference in technical areas of private industry, when it hits the fan, suddenly everyone's a big advocate of the feds sweeping in and "fixing it." Or could it be that they are less principled than they claim to be, and far more concerned with an agenda of simply criticizing and/or defending their chosen political champions because that's how they make a living? I guarantee you, if the president were focusing all his attention on the oil spill, these same people would be criticizing him for not paying enough attention to "grave threats from North Korea that could turn nuclear" or "not focusing enough on creating jobs" or " ignoring his campaign promises to resolve the crucial problems in our nation's health care industry" and so on and so forth. Hey, here's an idea -- anyone with a brilliant silver-bullet solution for "fixing" the problem with the oil spill, step up and throw your idea out there. I don't just mean "tighter regulations next time" I mean how will you stop this spill today? What would you do to "fix it"?

Richard Rosenthal (guest)
AZ:

There are a couple of issues here. One being the well a mile down. What can the government do? Not much -- that is BPs expertise and responsibility. On the other hand, there is oil on the surface that must be contained as much as possible. This is where the government and just about anyone can pitch (no pun intended) in. It appears that hay can sop up the oil. If a few hundred barges of hay is used near threatened areas, then this would help. Politically the president has reacted in proportion to the problem as it unfolded so I don't think this will be a Katrina moment. However, it is a Katrina moment for BP as the disaster is completely owned by them. Perhaps those critical of the president or government will consider why the government must be the fall guy for free enterprise as it was for the economic collapse and this oil spill. The desperate diversion to avert our attention from an oil industry disaster to that of a political failure of Obama by political enemies of Obama and apologists of deregulated corporations is obvious and shameful.

Matt Caci (guest)
MA:

According to all the conservatives, this oil spill is a "natural event" and the "ocean will take care of it." Oh, wait, that's all BS, you say? Well I guess you can't have it both ways. Either the spill is "not a big deal" as conservatives say or it is. It can't be both. Fact of the matter is, the government was there immediately. Not the case with Katrina. Calling it "Obama's Katrina" is nothing more than pandering to the average idiotic American who needs some previous reference point for every current event.

Chris Sells (guest)
AL:

Is there some ultra deepwater oil leak response team on standby within the federal government? There must be if there are those who believe the feds should take over the operation. If not, what is the federal government to do different? What would they do different? They would turn around and hire those experts now on scene and claim we were able to fix the problem and not BP.

Brian B (guest)
OK:

Although the buck does stop with the Obama administration because his Interior Department issued the permit to drill, I do not see any parallel with the Katrina situation. There was plenty of time to prepare for Katrina. There was a general idea of where this storm was going to hit. WIth the oil rig explosion, there was no warning and the feds had the industry's guarantee that this was safe and that they could handle any disaster. I wish the feds had more at their disposal to take care of this mess; however, this country has become more reliant over the years on the capacity of the private sector to do the job and to take care of any problems. Therefore, the conservative bad mouthing that's being directed towards the administration is unwarranted. How can we be upset at the lack of government resources to end this disaster when we, as a society, have grown to distrust government intervention?

William BROWN (guest)
VA:

Let's be clear about responsibility. The oil spill in the Gulf is a result of BP's greed aided and abetted by eight years of Bush-Cheney anti-regulation policies. It is unrealistic to expect the Obama administration to have repaired the shredded regulatory system it inherited in a year and half. The congressional self-righteous posturing is beyond embarrassing given its complicity in the anti-regulatory Bush-Cheney policies and its consistent failure to provide sufficient funding or oversight of the regulatory agencies. We are reaping what we have sown.

John Smith (guest)
VA:

As Thad Allen said when asked if he agreed with Ken Salazar about replacing BP, "replace them with what?" For all of the anguished bleating about Obama, the simple truth is that he has no capacity to act here, because the federal government has no capability to fix the spill. They must rely on the oil industry. He should want the government to be working cooperatively with BP right now. BP would probably like nothing better than to be pushed aside so Obama and his politicals can stumble and bumble even more badly than BP. There will be time later to punish BP. Now is the time for the oil industry to perform. Enhanced interrogations can wait for Henry Waxman's hearings. The one thing he can do is let Bobby Jindal build sand berms to protect sensitive areas, and get more booms in the water. The CG and Corps of Engineers can help with those actions, but even those small steps seem to elude his administration

Lee O (guest)
CA:

If only the administration would show the same sense of "urgency" with the oil spill disaster as they showed with health care reform.

Pat Gunn (guest)
PA:

People might like the idea that they elected heroes who can handle anything the world throws at us, but this is not the case - what's important is that they provide the best response, not that they can solve it themselves. Reliance on BP and Transocean is a much safer bet than use of state power in this instance, and the only responsible thing is for the government to focus on other aspects of the crisis (e.g. impact on the coast, impact on industry, etc). It might not look good, but it's the most responsible thing to do.

John Reed (guest)
OH:

Is it not amazing that Greg Dworkin can muster his muted defense of Obama and his administration by indicating that this event is unprecedented? Would that be his same exact response if this were the Bush administration and the same exact circumstances? Doubtful. What he misses or will not admit is that this administration's leadership and the ability to inspire confidence trumps the administration's spin control, heated words and finger pointing. This administration lacks a lot once you get beyond the populist messages and tight message control. We need far more real leadership in many areas then this nation's current politicans have in them.

Marc Levitt (guest)
WV:

Coming so quickly on the heels of the Goldman Sachs hearings, the lack of "teeth" in Congress's dealing with large corporations has become glaringly evident. BP seems to be able to control the flow of information, dogmatically adhere to their mantra about paying "legitimate claims" (without ever defining that phrase despite the insistence of Congress), and Transocean has already claimed more than $400 million in insurance while seeking to cap their own liability claims at a paltry $27 million. It seems that Salazar's insistence about the government "keeping their boot on the throat of BP" is not only hyperbole, but a pitiful attempt to bolster the facade that the government is somehow in control of the situation. If they cannot bring the companies to heel, who can we turn to?

Todd Bray (guest)
CA:

Am I hearing the right correctly? Government can do better than private industry? Or are the Republicans just trying to get BP off the hook for the clean up in much the same way they got Wall Street off the hook for robbing us all ... twice?

Jessie Gheen (guest)
WV:

I think that they need to have Mitch McConnell and his group of "no" have a shot at stopping the leak and repairing the Gulf. Whatever the president does, they will criticize. We need to give them the first shot just to see if they can fix things as much as they can mess things up.

Mike Gorman (guest)
OH:

This administration is like a comedy act except real people are getting hurt by this oil spill. I am not sure what the federal government can do but by constantly playing good cop/bad cop with BP is hilarious and disturbing at the same time. Obama and his pals are not simply not qualified to run a business, let alone the U.S. government. When they are not sure what to do, they play the blame game and bash someone. We saw this with the stimulus bill, health care bill, cap and trade and now the BP oil spill. They are not mature enough to run anything. I see the liberals are still bashing Bush over Katrina? The people of New Orleans were told to leave and most of them chose to stay so they could steal, loot and have a great time. The oil spill is nothing like Hurricane Katrina, the liberals just like to bring that up to change the subject and continue to take shots at Bush.

Andrew Coutant (guest)
FL:

It is easy to try to compare Obama's response to the spill with the Bush response to Katrina. But it fails. Bush and "Brownie" knew that Katrina was going to hit, and it was going to be bad. Nothing was done to get supplies, and manpower in place before it hit. Bush knew the levees would not hold; the funding for repairs had been diverted to his Iraq war. Instead, FEMA and Bush watched it all unfold, then tried to get act when it was too late. No one other than BP knew there were problem at the well. The well was, and is private property. Had the administration seized control of the well following the disaster, you could have heard the Party of No's screams of outrage around the world. Look at Rand Paul's nonsense about excessive regulation. What tools does the U.S. have to deal with this in its arsenal, compared to BP? What experts do the feds have immediately available to act at once. The oil should have been captured at the well and pumped up to the surface and ships within days. Instead we have a 4-inch pipe capturing less than 1/20th of the flow installed by BP. Obviously, by now, the feds have accumulated information and resources necessary to take control of this mess, if BP's Tuesday effort fails.

Dave Sperling (guest)
OH:

To those suggesting a failure of presidential leadership has extended or exacerbated this problem, what do you believe the administration could or should do to end this ongoing catastrophe? These accusations are made without offering any alternative direction or any specific remedy. The fact is that BP created an industrial accident and we simply lack the knowledge and ability to quickly address it. Short of suiting up Ken Salazar in scuba gear and handing him a wrench, what tools does the administration have to address this problem and should they allow political pressure to spur them towards a hasty "solution"?

Lorenzo Davenport (guest)
GA:

The upside of having the federal government available in a crisis is the enormous concentration of money and logistics capable of mitigating a disaster. The downside is that over the years the sheer size and complexity of the same is a hindrance. The federal government may be many things, but it is not a nimble operation. That said, having watched this bad movie unfold in the Gulf, it is impossible for most Americans to understand why something more tangible has not been done by this administration -- which is so savvy in "working" the media for its benefit -- to at least give the illusion of some progress. After Katrina, one would have thought that the lesson had been learned. Apparently not.

Jon Davenport (guest)
TX:

Mr. Carafano nails it above. President Obama continues to learn it is far harder to govern than it is to campaign. I just wonder if Obama would like to [privately] take back many of the very ugly things he's said about prior administrations. It is also a pretty ridiculous idea to bash an company whose help you need. But most ridiculous is while the oil is still flowing, the appointing of a commission on how to prevent future oil spills. Crickets chirping, anyone?

Phil Gonzalez (guest)
TX:

We all know whatever Obama wants, he gets. The impatience that runs through his veins is well-known. What did Obama say, he has to put a date on things or else nothing would get done. Well there's a date all right. It's Nov. 2, 2010. If the election isn't until then, why in the world would Obama want the oil spill taken care until then? It's a pattern. Obama couldn't sell his health care to the people so he started selling the oil spill, tea party racism, anti-incumbency, abuse of immigrants' civil rights, Arizona law, boycotts, anti-government and reform. The oil spill has to do what Obama wants it to before he acts. It has to politically help the Democrats out in the November election before he lifts a finger. He has to make sure enough damage is done, enough blame is administered and the visual effect buried deep in the minds of the people before he acts. There's a time for forming commissions and there's a time to act. There's a time to act like a president and a time to act like a community organizer. Nows the time to act like a president.

Andrea E (guest)
NY:

Simply put, talk will not solve this problem. Results are what is needed here.

Donald Johnson Blogger, www.businessword.com (guest)
CO:

The idea that ambitious politicians and cautious bureaucrats can solve the technical and logistic problems better than BP is absurd. You have an uncomprehending public and press pressuring a highly political W.H. and Congress in an election year to do something, anything, now, regardless of the costs and consequences. Just look at Europe to see how well politicians who've never run anything but their careers do when it comes to dealing with complexity, technology, markets and crisis management. Europe's "teetering," thanks to its politicians, and America's demanding that its politicians do something. How absurd!

More POLITICO Arena

About the Arena

The Arena is a cross-party, cross-discipline forum for intelligent and lively conversation about political and policy issues. Contributors have been selected by POLITICO staff and editors. David Mark, Arena's moderator, is a Senior Editor at POLITICO. Each morning, POLITICO sends a question based on that day's news to all contributors.